Nut-lock.



w/rmgssss I. R. HICKS.

NUT LOCK.

APPLICATION 21mm NOV. 9, 1912.

' lNVEA/TOR #2 f. fi/c/rs,

man/ism Patented July 29,4913.

To all whom it may concern error.

IRL ROBERTHICKS, F H'ALLSVILLE, MISSOURI:

' NUT-LOCK.

Specification of esson.

Letters atent Patented July 29, 1913.

Application-filed November 9, 1912. SerialNo. 730,444.

Be it known that I, Inn R. Hrons, a citi I zen of the United States, and a resident of Hallsville, inthe county of. Boone and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nut-Looks, of which the following: is a specification.

My inventionrelates to nut locks, my more particular purpose'being to provide a simpleandstrong construction of nut lock in which the locking. mechanism is. not only self-tightening, but in case. of the bolt stretching slightly, the. pants will: automatically assume their relative positions, thereby enabling the locking-mechanism to'obtain a new grlp. Reference is made'to the accompanying dBaWings formiIig'apart of this specification in,- which like letters indicate like parts.

' Figure 1. is a longitudinal section througha boltv provided with my improved nut lock. Fig.2 is, a cross section on the line'22 of. Fig; 1;: Fig. 3 is a. front elevation or face view of the outer sleeveof the nut; Fig 4 is a. perspective showing; the inner sleeve iofthe nut; and, Fig. 5 is asection showmg how the nut is self-tightening to: compensate for a slight stretching. of the. bolt.

' A bolt is shown 3116. and is provided with an angular head 7 integral with it. The bolt is further providedwitha threaded portion;

8. Revolubly mounted upon this threaded portion is' a sleeve 9 provided internally with a threaded portion mating the threaded portion 8 of the bolt. The sleeve 9 is a. split sleeve, that is to say, is provided with a slot 10 extending in the general direction of the axis of the sleeve. The sleeve 9 is provided with a thick portion 11 and with a thin portion 12, these two portions-being disposed upon opposite sidesof the slot 10. The sleeve 9 varies uniformly in thickness from its edge 11 to its edge 12 as 'willbe'understood from Fig. 4.

I At 13 is a sleeve separate from the sleeve 9 and forming together with the sleeve 9 a;

composite structure having the functions of a- 'nut. The sleeve -13 is provided with a shoulder 14 disposed internally; that is to w say, the opening in the sleeve 9 is slightly eccentric to the geometrical axis of the sleeve 13, the shoulder 14 being of proper size to compensate for the difference in thick n'es's between the edges 11, 12 of the sleeve 9 when the parts hrs in normal position. The

sleeve 13 is provided with a notch 15 and the sleeve 9 is provided with anotch 16, these notches being in registry whenv the sleeves gr? fitted together and. tightened upon the The operation of my device is follows 1-The sleeve 9 being mounted upon the threaded portion 8 of the bolt and. being fitted loosely into the sleeve 13, a wrench is applied tothe sleeve 13 and the sleeve is thus turned carrying with it the sleeve 9. As the shoulder 14 lodgesagainst the edge 11 of'the sleeve 9 the rotation of the sleeve 13 simply causeslthe sleeve 9 to turn. In this way, owing to the conical form ofthe sleeves 9 and 13, as shown in Fig. 5, the bolt is placed under tension and. the sleeves'9 and 13 are tightened relatively to the bolt and to each other. Suppose now that an effort is made to turn the sleeve 13 backwardly-that is in' such directionas to develop a tendency of ulnscrewingy the parts. This movement of jgthesleeve 13 disconnectsthe shoulder 14 ifromi the adjacent edge 11' of the, sleeve 9, ,but. owing to theshape of the inner surface 30f the sleeve 13 and of the outer surface of ithe sleeve 9the various parts of the sleeve 9' are forced directly inward against the lthreaded? surface'of the bolt, and thus bind mgains the same, owing to! the wedge-like action of the thread. The sleeve 9 is there- :by tightenedrelatively to the bolt so thatthe ,Sleeve -9. is unable to turn. This leaves the parts tightly locked together. It will be understood that when the rotation of the sleeve 13 is such as to force the sleeve 9 toward the head 7 of the bolt the parts are tightened together by virtue of the threads.

When, however, the rotation of the sleeve 13 is in the contrary direction, the parts are tightened not by thethread but rather by the inward pressure due to the cam-like ac- I that the bolt 6 stretches slightly as indicated in Fig. 5. The sleeve 9 as a consequence moves slightly in relation to the sleeve 13 but as these two sleeves have previously been tight and slightly sprung relatively td each other, the slight stretching movement of the bolt 6 leaves the sleeves 9 and 13 still in contact with each other and that too under a moderate degree of pressure. If now the device be subjected to shocks or jars tending to turn thcsleeve 13 in either of two directions, the sleeve 9 is clamped more tightly upon the bolt. In order to disengage the sleeves 9 and 13 from the bolt 6, a chisel or other appropriate tool is applied to the notches 15, 16 and driven, as for instance by'hammer strokes, in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. By thus turning both of the sleeves as a unit, they are readily loosened and may be removed by simply turning them further..

I do not limit myself to the precise construction shown as'such variations may be made therein as fall Within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. In a nut lock, the combination of a split sleeve provided with a thick edge and a thin edge, said thick edge and said thin edge both extending substantially parallel with the axis of said sleeve, said sleeve varying gradually in thickness and also varying in external diameter from said thick edge to said thin edge, and being threaded internally to fit upon a threaded bolt, a second sleeve fitting upon the external portion of said first mentioned sleeve, and provided with a portion abutting said thick portion thereof. in order to turn said firstmentioned sleeve freely in one direction, and said See- 0nd mentioned sleeve being provided with a surface for forcing said second mentioned the axis thereof, the external diameter of I I said sleeve varying gradually from said thick edge to said thin edge, and being threaded internally to fit upon a threaded 7 bolt, a second sleeve fitting uponthe external portion of said first mentioned sleeve, and provided with a portion abutting said thick portion thereof in order to turn said second mentioned'sleeve freely in one direction, and said second mentioned sleeve being provided With an eccentric rim surface for forcing said second mentioned sleeve radially inward when saidsecond mentioned sleeve is turned in a direction contrary to said first mentioned direction, the outer surface of said split sleeve and the inner surface of said second sleeve being inclined relatively to the general longitudinal axis of said bolt, said split sleeve and said second sleeve being provided with notches which may be brought into registry with each other.

IRL ROBERT HICKS;

Witnesses:

D. B. CARPENTER, GLENN I. POLLARD. 

